The social environment and exposure to life challenges are intimately interlocked with physiological responses to stress and to mental and physical well-being. Exposure to environmental stresses and the extent of their effects is mediated by the social environment encompassing position in social hierarchy and linkages within social network and support system. Ultimately, we plan to investigate the interconnections among stress, the social environment, and health. His pilot project focuses on biological markers of stress and of known risk factors and indicators of chronic disease. The fundamental aim of the research is to assess the feasibility of the collection of blood and urine specimens from a population-based sample of the elderly. The biological specimens will be assayed for set of stress-related markers. We propose to test a sample of 100 persons from two locations. The sample of 100 is a subset of individuals who have participated in the Surveys of Health and Living Status of the Elderly. The participants have been interviewed periodically beginning in 1989, and most recently, in a survey conducted earlier this year. The proposed effort will provide the basis for combining the newly-collected biological data with a rich set of longitudinal survey materials that incorporate a wide range of historical and current information on social, economic, and health- related characteristics and experiences.